AURORA | The Smoky Hill softball team had hoped to call it an early afternoon Saturday at the Class 5A Region 6 tournament at the Aurora Sports Park, but the day took a different turn.
Coach B.J. Kingsbaker’s sixth-seeded Buffaloes would have liked to win their first two games and take away any drama in qualifying for the Oct. 22-23 5A state tournament at the same venue, but 11th-seeded Chatfield had other ideas.
The Chargers snapped Smoky Hill’s 12-game winning streak with a 7-1 victory in a game between opening round winners to take the first of two available state spots and leave the Centennial League champions facing a do-or-die final contest against 22nd-seeded Fruita Monument.
The Buffaloes had little difficulty rebounding, however, as home runs from seniors Izzy Giroux and Amrajie Bass and junior Eliana Trujillo sparked them to a 10-3 victory that gave them the second state tournament berth.
Smoky Hill joined rival Cherokee Trail in the 5A state tournament field as the Cougars earned their way through with an 8-7 win over Rocky Mountain to conclude the Region 3 tournament held at Legacy High School.
Eaglecrest nearly made it a trio of Centennial League teams at state, but lost to Castle View in Region 5’s final game in Fort Collins.
Courtney Oakes is Sentinel Colorado Sports Editor. Reach him at [email protected]: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
2021 CLASS 5A REGION 3 SOFTBALL TOURNAMENT
Oct. 16 at Aurora Sports Park
Smoky Hill 8, Fort Collins 0
Score by innings:
Fort Collins 000 000 0 — 0
Smoky Hill 060 101 x — 8
WP — Smoky Hill: Delaney Farnsworth (7 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 8 K). Smoky Hill hitting: Izzy Giroux 2-4, HR, 5 RBI, run; Delaney Farnsworth 2-4; Eliana Trujillo 1-3, RBI, run; Gabi Giroux 3 runs; Paris Elsberry 2B
Chatfield 7, Smoky Hill 1
Score by innings (r-h-e):
Chatfield 000 003 4 — 7 10 1
Smoky Hill 000 001 0 — 1 3 1
LP — Smoky Hill: Delaney Farnsworth (7 IP, 10 H, 7 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 8 K). Smoky Hill hitting: Amrajie Bass 1-3, run; Paris Elsberry 1-3; Eliana Trujillo 1-3; Delaney Farnsworth RBI
Smoky Hill 10, Fruita Monument 3
Score by innings (r-h-e):
Fruita Mon. 010 020 0 — 3 5 3
Smoky Hill 050 320 x — 10 12 4
WP — Smoky Hill: Delaney Farnsworth (7 IP, 9 K). Smoky Hill hitting: Izzy Giroux 3 hits, HR, 3 RBI; Amrajie Bass 2 hits, HR, 2 RBI; Eliana Trujillo HR, 3 RBI
